Year Long Hiatus

Hey world!  We've been gone for awhile.....but rightfully so! So much has happened within the last year....it just gave us time to sit and think about the direction we wanted to take this blog.  After taking some time to think, and talk, and plan, we want this blog to be more than what it is.  We want this to be a place where hopefully you can read what we have to say.....read about what we want in our life...and maybe learn something or relate to us.  It's a place where we can say what we want and what we feel and hopefully you feel inspired too.  Life is crazy and sometimes a mess....but with a good support system around you, you can get through anything!  We are going to share recipes, workouts, life lessons, random stories, anything and everything that we could possibly share with y'all.  So hopefully you can find some use out of all of our useless banter and enjoy it!

Staying on Track While Being Injured.....and How to Overcome It

Hey everyone!  So after a long hiatus, we're back.  May was crazy.....hockey was in full swing and then I dislocated my shoulder on top of it and have been in a sling for over 3 weeks waiting on surgery. So...I haven't really been up to tooooooo much!!!!!

Anywhooo....the purpose of this post.....staying on track while being injured and how to overcome it.  I workout errrday.  Pretty much. It's my release, my de-stresser, my escape, my outlet to let everything go.....so one Friday I was sitting catching up on some emails and reached back to pick up my 5 year olds coat off the floor and bam....my shoulder popped out....for the 15th time. Legit.  An hour and a half later I find myself in the ER, getting X Rays and getting referred to an orthopedic surgeon.  Flash forward 3 days and I find myself being told I am 99.9% getting surgery and will never be able to lift probably ever again.  My world crushed.  My one escape, my one thing I do to get rid of everything that is bothering me, to be told I most likely will never be able to do it again.  I cried the whole way home until my little guy asked if he could buy me some ice cream with his piggy bank money.  At that moment, I realized, you can overcome this.   This past 4 months, I have made some of the most amazing gains that I ever have.  I packed on 20 lbs of muscle...and not in the binging on Burger King and McDonalds type of way either. I increased every single thing in the weightroom.  And then to have that all be taken away in an instant? No way.  I will not let that happen.  So....after a week or so of sulking, a week of crying to my husband every night and thinking my life is over....I made a plan.

I talked to one of my really good friends (who happens to be a trainer and works in my hospitals sports medicine clinics) and worked on what I can do to help myself until I have to go in for surgery.  I decided that I'm going to continue to lift.  I know.....it sounds crazy, but here me out.  My right arm is a-okay.  My left, well I can continue to do bicep work and minimal tricep work. So I will.  We also came up with a nice little resistance band/isometric shoulder workout.  My anterior capsule is completely shot, but if I can strengthen just a little portion of it, I will take it. It will make recovery easier.  I've switched my cardio routine. The recumbent bike is my new best friend.  I can incline walk and bike it out to my hearts content.  I need to modify my diet, which I know I need to do, but I haven't completely done it yet.  I know come surgery time, I will need to eat as clean as possible with the limited movement that I will be doing.   I can have my arm out of my sling right now for a couple hours a day, so I've been maximizing on that.   Post surgery, we will take it as it comes, but I plan on getting my full mobility back. They told me between 3 and 6 screws are to be put in place and to expect to lose some mobility. I plan on rocking my physical therapy and showing them whats up.

The most important piece of advice I can give on this.....have a positive mind set.  If you tell yourself you can do it, you can.  It may suck the big one right now and you might be beyond butt hurt over it all, but if you can tell yourself that you will overcome it and come out better and stronger than before, than do it.  Make a plan out for yourself and follow it.  Tell yourself this is what I'm going to do and don't falter.  Don't use it as an excuse to binge out on crap.  Nourish your body.  By going about setbacks in a healthy and positive manner, you will find yourself overcoming and being stronger in the long run.  I know I have a long 12 weeks ahead of me.....but I won't let myself get down over it.  I'm going to use it to come out the best version of myself that is possible.  The body is an incredible thing.....push yourself.  You will see yourself adapt and power through things you never thought possible.  Don't baby yourself.  Give yourself strength and positivity and you will see definite changes.

My very own pre workout

Linda here...I have something to admit.  I don't take pre-workout, or supplements for several reasons.

Reason 1: Money, I don't want to spend it on supplements, been there done that, over it/ I'm cheaper than Megan...
Reason 2: I forget to take them anyway, so they sit in my purse for years.
Reason 3: I don't feel its necessary for me to pump all this crap into my body anymore.  This one time, I took a fat burner and thought I was having a heart attack for a month, that's all it did for me...scum.

So here's the other thing, my wake- up time is 4:30 am...I know I know, its OBSURD.  Sometimes I smack my alarm clock and say "no way in hell" and roll over, sometimes, at least once a week, which means I have to catch up on Saturday to make up for that missed workout. 

I took a brief 1 month hiatus from lifting a short while back and I'll admit it's hard to get back into, especially when you have no help from pre-workouts or supplements.  Now I am back into it and I am determined to do this all natural because...reasons above. 

Last night I had the brilliant idea that I would make myself a coffee, stick her in the fridge and gulp it down cold this am pre workout.  I did just that.  I sprung up with my alarm this morning (because husband yells at me if I don't, it wakes the sleeping bear), got dressed, dodged some friendly cats and opened the fridge.  "Oh ya I made a coffee"...and down the hatch.

image

Let..me...tell..you..

IT WORKED.  Hot damn, I was ON FIRE. Got me through the whole workout and then some. Here is the recipe to my very own home made pre workout...don't laugh...okay laugh I like it


-Regular coffee, no flavoring etc (I used a Kcup, so 1 Kcup)
-1/4 Cup of almond milk
-put in fridge
-consume next morning.

DONE, that's it, no flavoring, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, I drank it just like that.  I mean if you feel the need to put something else in it, go for it I won't judge you, but it worked just as well as pre workout worked for me in the past, minus the whole tingling skin bit, I hated that about pre workout, also they always tasted DISGUSTING to me.  Coffee is coffee it tastes like coffee.

On a side note, I am by no means saying pre-workout is stupid, I just don't like it cause it makes me tingle for weeks then stops working and it makes my wallet lose weight.  Basically I'm cheap, and this is a frugal way to fuel workouts.  Try it out, it might work!  Or maybe it won't and you can comment about how much I suck, it's fine I'm cool with it.


 

Best most easiest breakfast ever...and why you should join a CSA!

So we over indulged for Easter....and I know I'm not really feeling much of anything besides blah. My hubby even said he wasn't feeling today when he left for work.  So I loafed around for a good hour and a half...made a cup of coffee and decided on  making this for breakfast.

Seriously people....it took 2 minutes.  Literally.  2 minutes.....

My dad came down for Easter dinner yesterday evening, so I wanted to make an Easter meal that was as clean as possible but yet still would be eaten by our 5 year old.  In the midst of all my grocery shopping, I got a box of baby heirloom tomatoes.  They are so colorful and cute and delicious.  So as I was staring at my refrigerator this morning wondering if my hubby looked at our CSA application, I got my box of tomatoes out and whipped up this.

All it is is jasmine rice I had cooked up (because I cook it in bulk every week for easy meals....and because if you don't eat jasmine rice, you really don't know what you are missing), a poached egg, and a couple sliced up baby heirlooms.  As the egg poached, I nuked the rice and tomatoes.  Top it with the egg and some pepper and voila.  Heaven.  The tomatoes are so fresh it's ridunk. You will thank me.

Back to my CSA....I love CSAs.  I think everyone should participate in a CSA program near you.   What is a CSA you ask?  Community Supported Agriculture.  A farmer offers "shares" to the public to buy (typically $300 for half share of $500 for a full share).  Every week for 20+ weeks, you receive a box with your share of vegetables and other items the farmer has produced.  It has perks for both the consumer and the farmer.  The farmers receive the payment early in the season which allows cash flow for their farm to operate.  If any of you are like me and live on a working farm, you know how hard it is to maintain a farm on its own cash flow.  My neighbors are currently storing grain in hopes that the prices go up to sell it so they can recoup some of the money they have lost on other crops.  The farmer also provides you with the freshest, hand picked vegetables out there.  You get to be a part of the farm, and most of the times the farmers include their share holders in pickings or other events on the farm.

You might be like "whatttttt $300 for vegetables? Are you crazy??" But....that's $300 for 20+ weeks worth of organic, pesticide free, locally produced vegetables.  I don't know about you, but every week I go to the store I spend $100+ on groceries....and 75% of that is fresh vegetables.  Do the math...you will save a ton of money during the growing season.  Another thing I love....you get whatever vegetable is in season....you don't pick and choose, so it opens up your palate to new vegetables and new ways of cooking them.  The one CSA that is local to me offers a Budding Farmer program for elementary school kids. For $48 a season, they will  send educational material and fun stuff home every week for your kid to learn more about farming.  I literally could go on and on about how much I love CSA's and how I think everyone should participate, but I will spare you.

So that being said.....go to www.localharvest.org and find yours today!!!!!

Body Image vs. Body Images

We are going to hit you up with a two person post today, because we both have things we want to say about this topic.

I (Linda) was going through the VS website drooling over their adorable bikinis when I came across this image, and got real upset.

Okay I get it, we are all different shapes and sizes, some of us are thin, some of us have a lot of curves, some of us have no curves, doesn't matter, we are all females.  This image however, it upset me.  Why?  Well it's not because this model is super svelt, it is Victoria's Secret after all, I get it, the models are thin and that is what is attractive to the brand and the fit of the bikinis, I'm over that.  However, look a little closer.  You can see where she had a shadow, that has been removed because the photoshopper was nipping her in further at the waist and gapping her thighs more, to emphasis what?  Curvy-ness?

You know what this image emphasizes to me?  It emphasizes why it is hard to be a teenage girl, why women say things like "omg I am so fat" and why everyone is looking towards the next best fad diet or cleanse to "get skinny".  I am exhausted by it, it makes me angry, and sad, it makes me want to take all the teenage girls into my arms and hold them close and shelter their eyes from the world.  It makes me want to follow my goddaughter around at all times just to make sure she never ever has to deal with bullying or "mean girls" or whatever.  It makes me want to throw my desk up on itself and tell the fashion industry to fornicate itself...in nicer terms.

I sent this image to Megan, and her first response was "this is why we have the problem we have", and she is right and I agreed to the millionth degree, so much so that here we are ranting about it in a post.

I won't lie, sometimes I feel "fat", sometimes I nitpick myself, I do it, more than I should and people, like my husband for example, cant for the life of them understand why.  My cellulite bothers me, but he doesn't even see it, like at all.  I hate that my thighs rub together, he's never noticed that.  My arms are flappy, but to him he sees nothing but a perfectly functioning arm.  Okay maybe my husband is just a really good guy (he is), but it's also because he doesn't dwell on this stuff, because, well because he is a man.  Us women, we are bombarded with these images that seep deep into our heads and sit there and burn into our brains and remind us "hey, you are imperfect".  And we are, we are imperfect, we are all imperfect, so is this model, because someone thought it necessary to change her image to make her look SMALLER.  WHY???  Why can't we be real about it.  We are all different shapes and sizes and colours, why do we expect to fit into the same mold?  Can we please stop it?

Can we please accept it and be imperfect?

I saw a post on instagram the other day, it said...

"You are not fat, you have fat.

You also have fingernails, you are not fingernails"

 Heyyooo! So it's my turn (Megan).....I agree with EVERYTHING Lin says.  I know everyone has a different take on what is "hott" and "skinny" and "fit", but instead of loving you for who you are, we are constantly bombarded with being smaller is being better.  I can't go and buy a pair of jeans without having to look at a picture of a size 00 model wearing the pair that I want and making them look amazing and then grabbing my size 4's off the shelf and having a moment of self loathing in the dressing room.  My husband asks me DAILY why I don't wear jeans and why I wear leggings alllllllll the time instead. Simple answer -- a) they are comf...lets be honest here  and b) society today has given us such a warped sense of what we should look like it's uncomfortable to squeeze into them and realize they look NOTHING like what they looked like in the picture. I haven't bought a pair of jeans in 2 years.  Not  a single pair.  

Okay so where am I getting at with this.....instead of focusing on how small you are, we should be focusing on how strong we are.  I no longer focus on what my scale says, but instead on did I up my max today doing curls or did I PR on squats.  I eat clean-ish for the most part, but I don't hold back. If I want something, I work it in my day.  I am active, I workout almost every day. Once.... I trained to be a bikini competitor and the experience taught me a whole heck of a lot.  I was unhealthy....starving....and when I quit training, I still wasn't near stage weight.  I wasn't going down that path again.  I love life and want to live it.  Below are 3 pictures of my absolute idol -- Libby DiBiase.  She is everything I strive to be....strong, healthy, fit, and beautiful.

Focus on strength. Focus on being healthy.  Focus on being fit.  Don't focus on fitting in to your size 0000000 jeans.  I care about if I can run that distance.  Can I row that 5000 meters? Can I lift that?  I took a picture of myself the other day and sent it to Lin.  I looked at it and realized, I am fit.  Yes, I have abs. No, I'm not 100 lbs.  I have quads that are defined. No, I'm not 110 lbs.  I have arms that get noticed.  No, I'm not 120 lbs.  I'm 140 lbs.  140.3 to be exact....and I STILL wear the same clothes I wore when I starved myself down to 115lbs.  Sure, I'm not going to be that stick thin waif walking around the beach, but I'm okay with that.  I'm the only girl in my gyms weightlifting club.  And I'm okay with that.  You should be okay with yourself too!!  Take your strengths and focus on them.  Don't get caught up in society today. Be the best version of you that is possible. 

Alone time dinner

Saturday I was alone in my house with my cats and no vehicle.

Alone...all day, unheard of.
Which meant I had a lot to get done, I was very productive, laundry, cleaning, workout, groom cats, etc. After lunch, I had the hindsight to throw in some chicken breasts onion and garlic with spices and my fav hot sauce into the slow cooker. By the time dinner rolled around I was hungry.  There wasn't much in the fridge but there was enough to make what I gotta say, was an amazing dinner.

I sautéed some kale in olive oil and garlic, sea salt and some pepper and a spash of white wine. I like my kale crispy so I wait until the edges are brown to eat it. I then baked a sweet potato in my microwave. I peeled it first then washed it then popped it in for 7 mins. While that was all happening I remembered my avocados. Took out an avocado and smashed half of it with lemon pepper mix mix mix. 

Once the potato was done. I took it out and cut it and laid it out like it was a plate, smeared some virgin coconut oil on it, put on some pulled slow cooked chicken, threw on the avocado, put the kale on the side and went to dinner heaven.

 

Okay I'm not the best with photographing it, but that shit was GOOD.  I was soo full and happy after it was amazing.  I also had extra kale for my lunch today, which made me extra happy.

 

What you need to recreate;

 

- Cooked "pulled" chicken (slow cook a pack of chicken with onions, garlic, salt pepper, whatever other spices you like, a dash of hot sauce and let it cook for hours until you can pull it apart.

- Kale (with olive oil, kale, garlic, salt pepper, a splash of white wine)

- Half of a ripe avocado

-Sweet potato (and coconut oil, or if you want to use butter and can eat it, go for it)

 

Simple ingredients in little to no time.  I wish I worked from home so I could use my slow cooker for everything, I don't trust it on all day when I'm not home.  Lucky Megan...

 

Linda

 

 

Throw out your scales!!!

Whats up fitfam?!  So, in my 15 day hiatus.....I've done a lot!  Bronchitis and walking pneumonia overtook my house -- thankfully not me -- Work has been crazy (what is it with this time of year?!??!) and I've been planning for the start of coaching my first junior high Hockey season, which starts tonight! So, while my diet hasn't been "on point" in my hiatus, my workouts most definitely have been.  So get to the point here Megan, what is this post about!

Alright, alright.....I want everyone, yes everyone.....to throw out your scale!!  But why!!! Why would anyone want to do that?!?!?  Think about it....your weight, it's just a number.  But it's a number that you let CONSUME your every being.  You are probably that person who weighs themselves every.single.morning.  or better yet, weighs themselves 5 times throughout the day.  Okay, timeout....you know that your body can fluctuate weight up to 8 lbs in an entire day right??  Just ask Lin about my extraordinary food babies and my amazing ability to hold like 10 lbs of food at one time.  But anyway...back on topic...the scale.  It's just downright depressing.  Who the hell wants to get on a scale after busting their ass in the gym or with their diet just to find out it hasn't budged AT ALL.  Talk about a buzz kill.  I'll admit it, there are times I get like that.  I was in a downer on Friday...I worked hard all week at the gym and expected to see SOMETHING and I didn't.  And then I slapped myself and realized "silly girl. you know better than this!".

The scale means NOTHING when it comes to telling you how in shape you are....NOTHING.  When you weigh yourself, you are weighing bones, fat, muscle, water, the 1/2 lb cheeseburger you ate 2 hours ago.  Lets get in to it even more.  Muscle weighs more than fat....Fat takes up more volume in your body. To get a definitive gauge of yourself, you should be taking your measurements.  I do mine every week. It's much more rewarding to see your inches decrease (and by saying that, I'm hoping it is being replaced with lean muscle mass and not just eating so few calories you are losing everything you have).  So instead of saying "I want to lose weight" everyone should be saying "I want to increase my lean muscle mass".  I'll give you me for example.  My diet has been....well...not where I know it could be.  Sure, I'm eating in a deficit, I'm watching my macros for the MOST part, but I indulge....more than I know I should.  Just ask the tupperware full of brownies and funfetti cupcakes on my counter right now.  Over the past 4 weeks, my scale has gone up 3 solid pounds.  I briefly had a cry sesh over this the other day......and I mean briefly, as in step on the scale, see the number, step off, cry for .2 seconds, then put my favorite pair of pants on that have been too tight for 6 months that actually now fit, and get happy again.  But how?!  I will tell you how.  My gains in the weight room have been incredible.  I am gaining lean muscle mass and losing fat.  My inches lost tell me so.  So while the scale is going up, my body is replacing fat I had stored with lean muscle and decreasing my size.

I ain't scared....I'll tell you....today I weigh 142 lbs, was 18.4% body fat when I got measured last week at the gym, and am sitting solid in a size 2/4 pant. This ain't no lie.... Flash back 5 years ago when I was in college.....didn't know what a diet or a gym was.....weighed 150 lbs and was in a size 10...barely.  It's a hard concept to grasp, I know this, but trust me on it.  Don't be afraid of the weights people, and stay away from the scale.  Take your measurements.  Judge based on "goal" pants. Do whatever works for you, but stay away from the scale.  You will thank me for it later.

xoxo!